Early Edition: New Role Is 'Bourne' for Rachel Weisz; 'Pan' Gets French-Swiss Dark Touch; More

After we complained last week that there were just not enough meaty roles for Rachel Weisz (she was up, for once, for a hot role in 'Oz: The Great and Powerful,' as Evanora, the evil, older witch sister to co-star Mila Kunis), we now find out via Deadline that she's in talks to star opposite Jeremy Renner in Universal Pictures' reboot of the Bourne franchise, the Tony Gilroy-directed 'The Bourne Legacy.' That's double the pleasure if she can take both parts; Deadline says 'Bourne' begins shooting in September, and 'Oz' is planned to go into production this summer. Tight fit.

Here's another kids tale remolded and taken to the dark side: Variety reports that Aaron Eckhart and AnnaSophia Robb have signed on to star as Hook and Wendy in a Swiss-French fantasy thriller version of 'Peter Pan.' Titled 'Pan,' the film has Captain Hook as a former police detective in pursuit of a childlike kidnapper, and Wendy as the villain's lone survivor who must help Hook track him down. Sean Bean has been cast as chief detective Smee, Hook's only ally on the force. The project, which sounds more like a comic book than a film, begins lensing throughout Eastern Europe in October.

Kiefer Sutherland, Gerard Depardieu, Til Schweiger, Thomas Jane, Johnny Hallyday, Jon Lovitz and Eric Cantona will star in 'Sleight of Hand,' a heist comedy about a crew of small-time crooks in Paris who inadvertently end up possessing a rare gold coin belonging to a notorious French gangster. Brad Mirman ('Resurrection') is directing. [The Hollywood Reporter]

The festival de Cannes had not even kicked off yet (it starts today) when The Weinstein Company announced Tuesday it was near a deal to acquire rights to 'The Artist,' a black-and-white silent film that takes place in 1927 Hollywood and focuses on a silent movie star whose career slips after the rise of the talkies, while a pretty young extra uses sound films to launch her career. The film, which stars Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Missi Pyle and Penelope Ann Miller, premieres in competition on Sunday. [Deadline]

More from Hunger: Woody Harrelson has added his name to the encyclopedic cast of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games.' He'll play Haymitch Abernathy, the mentor of the lead character, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), who Abernathy trains to fight in a televised battle to the death among teen teams. Already cast in major roles: Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci and Wes Bentley. [THR]

'Rock of Ages' just lost its '30 Rock.' Alec Baldwin, whom director Adam Shankman announced in March would be in the film about heavy metal music on the Sunset Strip in the 1980s, has decided not to join the cast. Never fear, though, the adaptation of the Broadway hit still includes Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Russell Brand, Paul Giamatti, Malin Akerman, Bryan Cranston, Mary J. Blige, Julianne Hough and newcomer Diego Boneta. [THR]

French actor Jean Reno has joined the cast of Summit Entertainment's thriller 'I, Alex Cross,' the latest adaptation of a novel from James Patterson's Alex Cross series. Tyler Perry stars as Cross, Ed burns co-stars as his partner, and Matthew Fox will play a villain. In this outing, the detectives take on a vicious serial killer (are there any other kinds?). Rob Cohen is directing, with production scheduled for August for a fall 2012 or early 2013 release. [Variety]

Naomi Watts, Kiev Scriber and Christina Hendricks are set to star in the boxing drama 'The Bleeder,' based on the true story of former New Jersey heavyweight boxer and womanizer Chuck Weaner who went 15 rounds with Muhammad Ali and inspired Sylvester Stallone to pen 'Rocky.' The film, according to Variety, is being shopped to buyers at Cannes this week by Hyde Park Intel. Jeff Feuerzeig will direct.